ABSTRACT
We perform three-dimensional particle-based simulations of confined, vibrated, and magnetizable beads to study the effect of cell geometry on pattern selection. For quasi-two-dimensional systems, we reproduce previously observed macroscopic patterns such as hexagonal crystals and labyrinthine structures. For systems at the crossover from two to three dimensions, labyrinthine branches shorten and are replaced by triplets of beads forming upright triangles which self-organize into a herringbone pattern. This transition is associated with increases in both translational and orientational orders.
ABSTRACT
Athermal two-dimensional granular systems are exposed to external mechanical noise leading to Brownian-like motion. Using tunable repulsive interparticle interaction, it is shown that the same microstructure as that observed in colloidal suspensions can be quantitatively recovered at a macroscopic scale. To that end, experiments on granular and colloidal systems made up of magnetized particles as well as computer simulations are performed and compared. Excellent agreement throughout the range of the magnetic coupling parameter is found for the pair distribution as well as the bond-orientational correlation functions. This finding opens new ways to efficiently and very conveniently explore phase transitions, crystallization, nucleation, etc in confined geometries.
